Timing is of the essence on gameday

CU officials urge early arrival with Folsom construction

Construction equipment dominates the former location of Gate 14 at Folsom Field. The gate will not be open throughout the 2014 season. (Cliff Grassmick / Daily Camera)

University of Colorado officials have some words of advice for fans of the school's football team who plan to attend home games this fall.

"Get here early."

The school and the athletic department are in the midst of a $181 million project in and around the stadium that will add a new building in the northeast corner of the stadium as well as renovate the Dal Ward Center and add a new 600-space parking garage and indoor practice facility immediately east of the stadium.

The construction will limit entry points to the stadium from the north where gate 14 is no longer open to the public and gate 13 no longer exists. CU is opening all gates to the stadium 2 hours before kickoff this season to help give fans more time to get to their seats before kickoff. Most gates have opened 90 minutes before kickoff in the past.

"We really want to encourage getting here early," assistant athletic director for external affairs Matt Biggers said. "Come into the stadium, enjoy yourself, come watch warm-ups and it will help alleviate some of that crush at the gates.

"We have the best mascot opening in college football. Get in, be there early, be ready."

Biggers said he understands that fans want to maximize their tailgating time because tailgating is a big part of the college football experience, but there is only so much officials and stadium security personnel can do if a majority of fans descend on the stadium in the same 15-minute window.

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Athletic director Rick George recently hired former CU assistant athletic director Jon Burianek to serve in a consulting role for at least 60 days to help the department plan for and avoid gameday problems. Burianek has nearly four decades of institutional knowledge and experience with the department and managing gamedays at CU. He last worked at CU in the mid-2000s.

One of the biggest issues on gamedays at CU has been a problem for years. It's a two-pronged issue. Students have only one point of entry because they must have their Buff One cards scanned at Gate 6, the only location where scanners are available. But a majority of the students seem to wait until the last few minutes before game time to arrive and then complain about the long line.

While students have asked for years to be allowed to access the stadium through more gates, CU has asked students to arrive earlier. Neither side has budged once again this season.

"Their crush is the same as the general public crush," Biggers said. "Everybody waits until 5 minutes before kickoff to try to get in. Adding them to other gates isn't going to make the situation any better for the people going in other gates.

"It really wouldn't solve their problem. OK great, you can go in other gates, but those gates are crushed at the same time also. It's the same issue across the board."

Biggers and Burianek said plenty of fans walk to the game from other places north of the stadium and they generally take Folsom Street to Stadium Drive to access gates 13 and 14. Those fans will have to walk to the south end of the stadium now and enter through gates off Colorado Avenue, where two additional temporary gates have been added for the season.

Fans who have seats on the west side of the stadium or those who park in lot 169 by the football practice fields can access the stadium from the north by crossing the bridge over Boulder Creek and walking up the same hill coach Mike MacIntyre and his players use every day to get to and from practices. The path leads to the northwest corner of the stadium with access to Dal Ward and Balch Fieldhouse.

The construction has led to approximately 200 fewer cars being allowed to park on Franklin Field immediately east of the stadium. It has been one of the most popular areas for tailgating at CU for years.

Burianek said those 200 cars have been relocated to other lots at various spots all over campus, but the majority were moved to lot 494 north of the Coors Events Center.

Biggers and Burianek said that while finding new parking and tailgating spots for 200 cars and their occupants was challenging this year, 2015 will be an even bigger challenge. Next year, it's unlikely any fans will be able to park on Franklin Field because the south end of the field that will be available this season will likely have to be used as a staging area for construction equipment and materials during the 2015 season.

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